Community Catalyst’s Center for Consumer Engagement was a tremendous resource and advocate for Cinnaire as we established the Healthy Neighborhoods Fund in Wilmington, Delaware. The goal of the Fund is to address the social determinants of health by providing capital for the acquisition and renovation of vacant and blighted homes to stabilize distressed neighborhoods, reduce crime and poverty, and improve the health of residents.

The Center was instrumental throughout the process of making the Fund a reality. The team analyzed and identified best practices to address the social determinants of health and facilitated key relationships for us with health care systems. They also helped shape our message to speak in a common and compelling language to meet the specific needs of health entities. The Center’s expert consultation, along with the collaboration with the Housing Partnership Network, made the Fund a reality by helping us raise the first funds from Trinity Health/St. Francis Hospital, providing the momentum for us to leverage funding from other contributors and lenders.

It has been such a pleasure getting the opportunity to work with Community Catalyst. Their knowledge and experience in consumer engagement has been extremely valuable in supporting the Transformation Center in convening Oregon’s Community Advisory Councils over the past two years. All of the staff at Community Catalyst have been amazing to work with and implementing our annual event with their assistance was educational for all.

Community Catalyst served as a fantastic guide in building a foundation, an identity, and membership for Community Care Cooperative’s (C3) Patient Family Advisory Council (PFAC). Our PFAC members already possessed the fervor to serve as champions for their communities and Community Catalyst helped solidify their roles, expectations, and priorities in order to improve the overall member experience. They truly helped us not only recruit our engaged members, but also reinforce the need for a cohesive and dedicated group, which will always remain a priceless asset for the future of our PFAC.

We worked with Community Catalyst to evaluate our Geriatrics Consult Clinic and how it engaged the older adults we serve, their families and caregivers, and the primary care providers who referred patients.  They did an extensive review of our clinic's materials, processes and interviews with patients, their caregivers and primary care doctors who used or who had the option of using our service.  Their work and the subsequent report has been invaluable.  They obtained, analyzed, and organized crucial feedback and suggestions for improvement.  We have already modified our clinic visits to be more patient-centric and manageable for caregivers, and have designed an outreach strategy for primary care providers to improve our referrals.  We received insights we never would have gotten without their insightful approach and synthesis and it has truly made a difference in how we care for patients.